#2 Rollerskate Skinny – Speed To My Side

Rollerskate Skinny are perhaps the closest anyone got to producing the multi-layered genius of My Bloody Valentine. Fronted by floppy fringed Ken Griffin they were an explosive live outfit, perforating eardrums one moment, applying cotton rimmed remedies the next. Their 2 albums are forgotten gems; the sophomore effort ‘Horsedrawn Wishes’ alone expelled enough fluid ideas to maintain a healthy career. ‘Speed To My Side’ perfectly displays the bands kaleidoscope approach; all manner of instruments are thrown into the blender but somehow the dish is delicately cohesive. Griffins voice holds true as guitar pedals are stomped on, feedback streams from a bank of 10-foot high speakers and several banshees wail from the unused abattoir next door. Griffin once described Rollerskate Skinny’s music as ‘controlled melodic chaos’ and on this evidence it’s easy to see why. KD